Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Working for the mob

Laird Barron

G.P. Putnam's Sons

May 29, 2018

4 stars

Isaiah Coleridge is muscle for the mob. He is half Maori, very big, and
amazingly intelligent for a man whose job it is to hurt people. He lived
most of his life in Alaska working for the Anchorage branch of the
Mafia but has recently barely escaped execution after foiling a made
man's scheme to slaughter walruses and profit from the black market in
ivory. He is given a reprieve though and is sent to a farm in the East
Coast near New York which can best be described a retirement home /
rehab for forcibly retired gangsters temporarily resting before they are
hit again. While there, he meets a young girl who also had her share of
trouble. After Coleridge saves her from an abduction she ends up
missing. Not the kind of man to stay out of trouble, he begins to search
for her and gets into another spider web of black ops mercenaries,
crooked cops, viscous gangs, and spoiled rich brats.

Blood Standard
is a rough edged story of the crime underground but is particularly one
about a man who precariously leans between feeling at home with the
violence and wondering if he has his own moral code that is more
important than that of the mobs. Coleridge is a fascinating protagonist
and there is lots of background that rounds him into a person you can
admire in a way. Mystery literature is full of anti-heroes but here is a
particular good one whose darkness and violent ways struggles to be in
balance with his own personal code. Coleridge is talented in the witty
comeback manner shared by many of the best hardcore stalwarts of the
mystery genre and he has his share of sidekicks of the dubious variety.
He is a bit like a Jack Reacher on the wrong end of the law. But what
really sets this crime noir thriller apart is Laird Barron's very
literary style that comes out like a cross between Raymond Chandler and
Dashiell Hammet with a rural twist. The author is mostly known for his
horror novels and this is his first mystery. That probably explains his
darker than usual turn on the genre that is only lightened up a little
by a wise guy sense of humor.

The main joy here is watching
Coleridge battle against the odds and the guns. While he has the crime
solving smarts, in most cases he just barges in like a organized crime
Conan the Barbarian. Unlike Conan though, he has his tender side and can
count without using his fingers. He even has some literary creds in his
choice of reads. This appears to be the first of the series but stands
alone with no real "cliff hanger". My guess is you will heartily welcome
the second Isaiah Coleridge novel when it comes along.

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About Me

My name is Marvin P. Vernon and I am a retired social worker who specialized in family therapy and domestic violence prevention. In the past, I have been a contributor to the Fact on File Student Thesaurus and currently pass my time as an avid reader and reviewer. I also work as a volunteer librarian at the Sun City Palm Desert Library. You can also find my reviews on Goodreads You can contact me at mpvernon5149@yahoo.com